Testing Boundaries
by DolfynRider
Summary: New job, new con...new romance?
1. Chapter 1

**Testing Boundaries**

**© 2009 – DolfynRider**

**TITLE: **Testing Boundaries

**FANDOM:** Leverage

**RATING:** M

**SUMMARY: **New job, new con...new romance?

**DISCLAIMER:** I own nothing in the Leverage-verse.

**NOTES:** I'm posting against my own better judgment. I'm just too worried about offending people since I've never really done a story even CLOSE to this. Trying to re-work the last chapter and make it a T instead of my traditional M, but we'll see how that goes, too. Leaving it at an M for now, though...just in case.

**CHAPTER ONE - THE BEGINNING**

"I can't _believe_ Nate is making us do this one!" Sophie huffed, looking at Parker, trying to fix her up into a proper girl for their newest job.

"Kissing a girl isn't so bad. I've done it before, when needed," Parker told her, "Think of poor Hardison and Eliot," she said, while she dodged the pointy object Sophie was holding too close to her eyes, "What is that?"

"It's mascara," Sophie said, trying not to let her mind go there, but now that it was out of Parker's mouth, it did. Hardison was pretty good with playing the stereotypical gay male, but Eliot...Eliot better play his part correctly or they'd all be screwed.

"They're not going to kiss...are they?" Sophie asked.

Parker shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, we're all supposed to play our parts well, aren't we? We're gonna have to kiss, eventually. So why shouldn't they?"

Sophie hadn't thought of that and once again she cursed Nate silently. The job was supposed to be easy. Infiltrate a commune whose leader was stealing funds from the members.

They agreed to take the job before they learned the commune was made up of gays and lesbians. The people living there were sick of the prosecution from others in the Bible Belt they lived in. In the commune, others couldn't touch them, though most did hold down jobs outside the commune's walls.

Each member donated money to keep the place running and in good repair. Their space was more of a gated community than the communes you hear about in the news, though they did surround the perimeter with twelve foot privacy walls to keep the unwanted out. There were only two small spaces with locking, wrought-iron gates at the front and back of the community so people could drive in and out.

The residents consisted mainly of high profile citizens in the community who could lose their jobs if people found out the truth about them. Most were doctors or lawyers. No one really knew what went on in their private little community, they just knew it's where a lot of the "richies" lived in the generally modest, middle class area and pretty much left them alone once they were behind the commune's walls. When friends or co-workers (and sometimes family) would visit, they'd "borrow" a neighbor to pose as their husband or wife to keep up appearances.

Through his web crawlers, Hardison discovered that the owner of the land on which the commune stood was taking money from those living there to benefit her own means. She was almost as good as Hardison on the computer...but not quite. She'd made a couple mistakes, though, which is what sent up the red flag as Hardison noticed the inaccuracy of funds as he was randomly searching people's bank accounts one day.

Nate went to question the people and they all had the same story. They willingly donated a quarter of their earnings and Natalie would then distribute the funds where she saw fit. They had lawn crews come in to take care of the grounds, she had experts come in for general landscaping, one of the members was a contractor and he was called on when houses needed repair, as well as other experts for the little things that needed done.

The people, however, had noticed that their bank accounts were off. Many were missing over half of their pay checks after only going grocery shopping or the like. Nate had explained to them what was happening, but had told them not to say anything, that he knew where their money was and could get it back, but they were to tell no one.

In time, he'd set up the team and had them paired off, their aliases ready, Sophie and Parker, known as "Sally" and "Susan" for the job, were going to buy a house in the commune. They were using one of the members' as their cover. Tasha was a doctor and Sophie was going to claim she worked with her, as a receptionist at the hospital. Tasha gladly got her all the information about the hospital she needed to make a convincing argument that she did work with her in case Natalie got suspicious.

Once the women bought the house, they were to introduce everyone to their friends Jack and Patrick, played by Eliot and Hardison respectively. Both men fought it, saying if Nate wanted to take them down so badly, why couldn't _he_ buy a house and pretend he was gay for the job. After much arguing, mostly between Eliot and Hardison as to who would be Nate's boyfriend, Nate finally got between them, saying he'd just be an "understanding friend who was over frequently". If people thought the three of them had something going, all the better for the job.

*****

A week later, Sally and Susan had a party at their house, inviting old friends, as well as some neighbors from the Bay Park Community, for their house warming. Eliot and Hardison, as well as Nate, made an appearance. Things went smoothly, except, Parker keep trying to kiss Sophie. "Make it real!" Parker kept whispering to her, and as Sophie looked around, she did notice a few couples holding hands, and others sneaking in a quick peck now and then so she let Parker kiss her, exactly once, while she was on her way to grab some drinks. They got to meet a lot of their neighbors.

Oliver was a construction worker who did a lot of work on the homes in the area.

Jessica, who'd just moved in two weeks before Sophie and Parker, was a stay-at-home mom of her and Stacey's two little girls. Stacey worked as a freelance photographer.

Melissa was a single mom of two boys who worked for a local radio station, Sophie found out she'd inherited a lot of money, though so she was welcomed into the community by the wide open arms of Natalie.

Donny and John, who'd lived there since the commune was built five years prior, were both lawyers, and also had two girls.

Jake was single and liked to play the field, a lot. Others mentioned how he'd always have some new man over practically every night.

The names were going by so fast, Sophie was having a hard time keeping up with everyone. Their home was filled almost to capacity. The community members were all friendly and welcoming towards them, though Sophie did notice a couple that seemed to be hanging back, hovering around the food her and Parker had laid out, but not really socializing with anyone.

She tried to draw them out a little. "Hello, I'm Sally, and you are...?"

"Tia," the woman said, staring at her feet.

"You don't have to be shy," Sophie tried, "Come on," she said, taking Tia's hand, "I want you to meet Susan." Tia's girlfriend followed them slowly.

They found Parker in the kitchen, getting out more food as their supply was dwindling. "Hey, Susan, this is Tia and..." Sophie paused to look at the woman behind Tia.

"I'm Asia," she said, reaching out a hand towards Parker.

Parker shook her hand, then turned to Tia, but Tia was still hanging back a little. "What's wrong?" Parker asked her. Sophie had been training her to read people, and she knew something wasn't right. Something was making Tia try to blend into the wallpaper.

"I'm just...not good with parties," Tia admitted. "Besides, everyone here hates me."

"What, why?" Sophie asked.

"Natalie's my mom and half the community thinks she's stealing from them," Tia admitted, then looked embarrassed.

Sophie couldn't believe it, then she stared at Tia hard. She should have known Tia was Natalie's daughter. The girl looked exactly like her mom, but a bit old for her age, while Natalie looked much younger than her 45 years. Both had long, jet black hair, were a bit too thin, with round faces and ski jump noses. They really could pass for sisters.

"DON'T TELL HER!" came Nate's voice in her ear. Sophie whipped around and went to peer out of the kitchen door to see if she could spot Nate, but he was lost in the sea of people. He knew Sophie well enough, and knew she was already on the verge of saying something to Tia.

"Stealing form them? Why?" Sophie asked.

"The members of this community have noticed a few discrepancies in their bank accounts, she has access to all of them, because of how the community is run – I'm sure you know that, since you've moved in, she would have needed your information – she says it's for 'safety issues', but even I'm beginning to doubt her," Tia told them, looking sad. Sophie wanted to question her a bit more, but as she opened her mouth, Eliot and Hardison walked into the tiny kitchen.

"Heeey! What's up ladies?" Hardison asked, "I'm Patrick, this is Jack," he said, slinging an arm around Eliot's waist, "And you are...?" The introductions went around again and soon the six were talking in their own little world, away from the noise and confusion of the living room. A knock on the kitchen door made all of them jump.

"Ladies, gentlemen, I have to go. I've been looking for you everywhere!" Nate said, then spotted Tia and Asia. "Hi, I'm Jeff, I haven't seen you two all night." The introductions started over again, ending quickly with Nate saying once again that he had to leave. He bid them all goodbye and was out the door in seconds. Parker followed with the forgotten food.

*****

The next day, the team drew up a list of all the residents, their jobs, and other bits of information they'd heard about at the party. Hardison thankfully had the foresight to have been recording while they were mingling and he'd installed wall coms in every room on every floor. The wall coms could be monitored from a remote location, in this case, from the condo Nate was renting down the road from the commune.

"Hey, Hardison, those things can be turned off and on...right?" Sophie asked hopefully, now eyeing the com in the living room. There were some things her and Parker had been discussing lately that the men didn't need to hear.

"Of course," Hardison said, smiling at the men.

"Okay, what'd you hear?" Parker asked, reading Hardison like a book for the first time.

"Well, I did forget to shut it down last night after we left the party..." he admitted.

Sophie's mind reeled. She remembered talking to Parker about Nate, but couldn't remember exactly what all she'd said. Parker was in her own world, as she had mentioned she was attracted to Hardison, but wasn't sure how it could work between them.

"Can we turn it off from in here?" Parker asked.

"Yes," Hardison motioned for her and Sophie to follow him and showed them a simple switch in the entryway closet that he'd installed. "I figured this would be the easiest way for you guys."

"Are you implying we wouldn't remember some complicated code or couldn't hack your computer enough to disengage it?" Sophie asked, narrowing her eyes at him, before brushing past him to go back into the living room.

"No," Hardison called after her, "It's just, this is a gated community, the likely hood of someone breaking in is slim – did you know Natalie has cameras at both entrance points? Plus there are random cameras installed in the telephone poles, too – anyway, a big keypad or something would look suspicious."

"We both have a computer too, ya know," Parker piped up. "If you can access it by yours, why couldn't we have done the same?"

"Natalie's been monitoring everyone's computer's! The Wi-Fi system isn't stable in here," Hardison informed them, calling up some information onto the small screen of Sophie and Parker's television. A quick glance revealed emails, IM's, bank records, and a few visits to forums by members of the community before Hardison shut it down again. "We can get a better look if we go to Nate's." Since it was a lazy Sunday afternoon, they agreed and within minutes, they were all piled into Nate's small condo.

*****

"Whoa!" Sophie whispered.

"What?" Parker asked, coming in from getting a snack out of Nate's kitchen.

"Jake really loves his internet," Sophie giggled, now staring at Nate's television.

Parker looked up to see a picture of two men in a compromising position and quickly looked back down. "Ew, I think I'm gonna be sick," she said, making a face. "Were they using..."

"Yes," Sophie laughed, "They were."

Parker paled, but Hardison had already changed the picture, going through each community member's history. He was talking about what each one usually did. They'd all checked their bank accounts online, many often ordered various items, too. It would be so easy for Natalie to get everything she needed even without already having their bank account information.

"What the hell?" Hardison asked.

"What?" Sophie looked at him, then to the screen. "Who's file is this???"

Parker looked up again, then said she needed to use the bathroom.

"Well, looks like we know what Parker likes," Hardison joked as the blond slunk out of the room.

Sophie went after her, glaring at Hardison, "You really don't need to know what _we're_ doing!"

"Aw, he was just curious," Eliot spoke up, then looked back at the screen, "Hey, I hadn't seen that picture, print me a copy, will ya?"

Nate rolled his eyes, "Guys, come on!" He tried getting them back on task.

They got to work, taking notes on whose money was going missing, how much they were missing, their account numbers and anything else they could that would help them return what the community members were missing.

**To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

TESTING BOUNDARIES

CHAPTER TWO – THE MIDDLE

Two weeks later, Sophie, Parker and Nate were helping Eliot and Hardison move in.

"Eliot," Nate yelled, "You can't have this stuff here! What if someone gets curious?"

"I break an arm to keep them from telling?" Eliot said, smiling.

"Eliot!" Nate warned.

"Fine," Eliot said, handing him a box, "But if anything happens to them..."

"You can buy new ones," Sophie told him, as she reached in and shuffled through the magazines, pulling one out at random, "What is men's fascination with this stuff?"

"I'm not male!" Parker said, grabbing it out of her hands and flipping through, "Ohhhh, I want to try that!" she said, turning the magazine around and pointing at a picture, then looked to Sophie.

"In the first place, we're not a couple..." Sophie started.

"Appearances!" Parker said in a sing-song tone.

"Which brings me to: In the second place, there's no way I'd do _that_ in front of an audience...with anyone, male or female," Sophie told her.

They had kissed a few times, and Sophie had to admit, Parker wasn't bad, but that was as far as it had gone, or would ever go. Usually it was just Parker giving her a peck on the cheek in passing when other commune members were over for a night of cards or to watch a movie. Though, the last time, Parker had practically crawled into her lap, hanging on her, when they realized how Tia and Asia couldn't keep their hands off each other. Almost alone, the two were anything but shy and certainly not afraid to show how much they loved and cared about each other.

Parker had tried to make them a convincing couple, but Sophie was holding back. She wanted to say something to Nate, but was worried what he might think, as well as what Sophie would do. All she knew was that this con wasn't so bad. She liked kissing Sophie, she couldn't deny that, but she wasn't really sure herself if she wanted more or not. Parker tried not to let herself think about it too much and their house was the cleanest in the whole commune because every time she'd start to think, she'd clean to distract herself.

"So, what's the con?" Eliot asked, as they all sat down to rest, now that everything was finally in place in the new home.

"Gain Natalie's trust, then ask to be her partner, just as we planned," Nate told them.

*****

Another week passed as Sophie got closer and closer. She finally asked Natalie about the upkeep of the commune, how much she was spending from her own pocket. Natalie admitted that she almost went broke just building the place, which is why she asked the others to donate funds to keep the place going and why she put it in the contract that those living there had to help provide. None of the members were hurting, with the jobs they had or others, like Melissa, from the money they already had.

Natalie told her there wasn't a single complaint about it when the members moved in, but she had heard rumors that people felt she was stealing from them. She was worried about what she was going to do and swore she wasn't taking any more than the contracts agreed upon, but she looked guilty.

"Do you need any help?" Sophie finally asked her, sitting down in an armchair and making herself comfortable.

"What?" Natalie, across the room, turned to look at her. Natalie's house was the largest in the commune and her voice echoed slightly in her vast living room.

"Susan and I have discussed it. We think this community is a great thing...for all of us. We want to help. We noticed how stressed you look, even before we moved in and really started getting to know you," Sophie told her.

*****

Within days, everything was set up. The team had what they needed. They were ready to bust things wide open. There was only one problem.

"Guys...GUYS!" Hardison called to them from Nate's.

The rest of the group had been sitting around, talking about the commune members they'd met, general banter playing back and forth, jokes had been made – mostly at Jake's expense, over him being such a playboy.

Parker was just talking about how it wasn't fair that men could have as many partners as they wanted, but a woman in the same position would be called a hundred different horrible names. Sophie agreed with her. Nate and Eliot pounced on them, saying men had needs.

"So do women!" Parker and Sophie said at the same time.

"Besides, how could you have so many women," Sophie stared at Eliot, "if we didn't have needs, too? Are all the women you've slept with...any of those names you _men_ call the rest of us?" She asked pointedly.

Eliot flushed, "No, well, I don't know, I just know women like me and when I'm..."

"_GUYS!!!_" Hardison yelled.

They all jumped, whipping their heads around to look at him.

"What?" they all chorused.

"We've got problems," Hardison informed them. They all looked over at the small screen in front of them as Hardison typed away. "Look!"

They peered at the screen, not sure of what Hardison was trying to point out.

Nate noticed it first, "What? That doesn't make any sense. How can she..."

Then, Sophie saw it, "That's impossible!"

Eliot and Parker was still clueless. "What's going on?" Parker asked, squinting at the screen.

"Yeah, so she is almost bro...oh!" Eliot said, realization hitting him.

"What??" Parker asked, almost begging now.

"The account I found, she has millions in it. But this one, this account," he said, pointing to the screen and looking at Parker, "Only has $2,193.76. The account numbers are wrong, too. This isn't the account I hacked into. I didn't notice it at first, but she has two separate accounts. No wonder she was so willing to let you and Sophie 'help' her out."

Nate looked at them. "Parker, do your thing. These houses have minimal, if any, security measures. Get us the information on her other account." Parker got up and headed off. "Hardison, keep monitoring the account, and see if you can tap into the bank's security feed." Hardison started punching keys on his keyboard. "Sophie, get out there and act your ass off. If anyone gets suspicious, tell them you took a vacation and you'll be home all week." Sophie got up to leave.

"Nate, what am I going to do or say to get her to admit to the other account?" Sophie asked, lost for once, on how to pull off a con.

"I don't know, just get her talking about money somehow. I trust you."

"Eliot," Nate said, now turning to him, "Um, I don't think you're going to be needed on this one. Why don't you just go back home for the time being. Keep the com in, though, just in case we do need you."

All team members in place, the plan went ahead.

*****

Sophie was making a convincing argument with Natalie, in her own home, to give Parker the time she needed. "Natalie, listen, is that the only account you have? I can't believe you're doing all this on...nothing."

Natalie admitted that her job didn't pay as well as the other members of the commune.

"What, exactly, do you do?" Sophie asked her. Though they'd talked at length many times now, she never did find out where Natalie worked.

Natalie hung her head, "I'm...I work..." she sighed, "I'm a cashier at Cowbell's," Natalie finally admitted.

"You're...what?" Sophie asked, not thinking she heard her correctly.

"I fell into money years ago, when Tia was just starting school. Hit the lotto on a pretty big pay out, then put most of the funds in her name when she was still little. I set it up so that she'd get it when she turned 25, and I'd take a little out now and then when needed for food, for her clothes and the like. I grew up in near poverty and just wanted to give her everything I never had. I never considered that win as 'mine', it was always all for Tia. I didn't spoil her, but she still doesn't even know about it," it all came out of Natalie in a rush.

"Does anyone else know about it?" Sophie asked, thinking now. Nate's voice interrupted "_Someone else has to know._"

"No. I would have told her father, but he deserted us when she was only 3. I haven't even told other family members, only my best friend knows about it, she had to take me to turn the ticket in. I was a mess I was so happy. Anyway, I put all the money in a different bank in an account under her name. I'm just waiting for next month," Natalie informed her.

"What happens next month?" Sophie asked.

"Tia's birthday. The day I get to show her the information and let her know how much she's getting. It will be the best birthday ever for her," Natalie said, sad smile on her face, "I'm just getting worried now. Tia has admitted her displeasure with living here, with the commune, she wants to be on her own, free of me, and I'm worried once she has that money...well, she'll be able to live anywhere she wants."

Sophie came over to give her a hug, but Natalie stepped back, "What are you doing?"

"Uhh...you seemed like you needed a hug," Sophie told her, stopping in her tracks.

"Oh...that's all? Okay," Natalie said, accepting the hug now.

"What did you...?" Sophie started, then stopped, knowing what was coming.

"I thought you were going to...well," Natalie blushed, "I thought you were trying to make a pass at me."

"A...pass?" Sophie asked.

"Okay, I'm a bit old-fashioned with that wording, thanks to my mother – she was older when she had me – but, yeah," Natalie said, now blushing, "I started this commune for Tia...not, not for me."

Sophie got it. "No, no passes, just comfort," Sophie said, now with a hand over Natalie's. "I grew up with a rather touchy-feely family, I can't help it, I see someone sad, I need to hug them, it's just my nature," she reassured Natalie.

She excused herself to use the bathroom just as Parker's voice broke in over the com.

"_Nothing...there's absolutely NOTHING in here. I've checked everywhere. This woman does not have another account, she can't. No one can hide that well. She'd have to have something...a hidden password, the account numbers in a safe place, an ATM card. She has nothing but the records for the account she told us about._"

Nate's voice came in, "Then...whose account is it and why is it in her name?"

Hardison broke in, "Guys, meet me at Nate's! I think I've found something."

*****

Half an hour later, they were all piled in front of the television once again. They had to wait on Eliot. He'd actually taken a detour on the way home and stopped at a gym. He was just finishing his workout when he heard Hardison call for them to meet.

"What's going on?" he had asked as he rushed into the condo.

"It's not Natalie," Hardison told them.

"Hardison!" Sophie almost yelled.

"We _know_ that already," Parker said, "So, who _is_ it?"

"You're not going to believe this..." Hardison told them.

Nate was in a corner, getting antsy, "Hardison...what's going on? Just tell us what you've found!"

Hardison called up the bank's security feed, then security feeds from several stores around the area, "Look!"

**To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

TESTING BOUNDARIES

CHAPTER THREE – THE END GAME

"Whoa!" They all echoed each other's surprised gasps.

"But...what is all that?" Sophie asked, still staring at the screen.

Hardison zoomed in, "That's enough gas cans for an army," he said, pointing to one screen. "That's from the fabric store, they don't have cameras in the store, but I'm betting there's more than a few yards of cloth in those bags." He clicked onto another screen, "And Buzzard's apparently had a sale on camping and hiking gear, since the receipt lists matches, charcoal, a tent, and a brand new pair of hiking boots."

He finally focused in on the one camera they were all the most curious about. In the slightly grainy, sepia-toned image, they could clearly see the person at the counter, putting a small stack of bills in her purse before heading out the door.

"So..." Parker said.

"What are we going to do now?" Sophie asked, turning to Nate.

"Now? Now we figure out what the hell's going on," Nate stated.

"How?" Eliot asked, "Not like we can walk up and say 'Look at all the footage we got on you', and she'll never admit it if we ask."

Nate was busy shuffling through papers, trying to find the right ones.

"What are you looking for?" Hardison asked, "I can probably find it faster on here," he said, turning back to his monitor, his hands hovering over the keys.

"When did you input all the data about the residents?" Nate asked.

Hardison's face fell, "I didn't."

Nate turned towards him, "Well, then it'll be a bit harder to find it faster on _that_ then, won't it?" he asked, nodding at Hardison's computer.

"Find what?" Sophie asked, curiosity getting the better of her. She knew Nate would tell them once he found...whatever it was he was looking for, but she didn't want to wait.

"Didn't she say her ex lived here, too? We might not be able to question her, but hopefully we can get something out of..." he paused, pulling out one of the papers from a file folder, "Tasha."

"Tasha? _My_ Tasha?" Sophie asked, noticing the guys looking at her with interest while Parker pouted. "What?"

"So she's _your_ Tasha now, huh Sophie?" Eliot asked with a wicked, evil grin on his face and a distinct twinkle in his eyes.

"MEN!" Sophie exclaimed, throwing her hands up, "You guys know what I mean!"

A few hours later, Tasha pulled in next door. Sophie had been sitting on the porch waiting for her. "Hey, Sally!" Tasha said, waving to her.

*****

Sophie approached her, "Hey, Tasha. Can I ask you a few questions...about your ex?"

Tasha sighed as she opened her door and motioned for Sophie to go in.

Sophie sat in Tasha's kitchen while Tasha made some tea for them. "What do you want to know about Tia?" she asked.

"How'd you..." Sophie started.

"Commune, weird stuff going on, everyone knows we used to date, I'm actually surprised you hadn't asked anything sooner," Tasha said wisely.

"Oh, well, we probably should have," Sophie paused, not even really sure what to ask before, "So, what happened between you two?"

Tasha sat down, taking a long swig of the strong tea, "Well, we met in high school, twelve years ago, she was a freshman, I was a senior. She was a lot younger and that's not supposed to be cool, but we started hanging out more and more. She was really smart for her age – being as she was only twelve when she entered the school – she even helped me with my math and English a couple times. After I graduated, we parted, since I went off to college," Tasha stopped to take another long drink of tea.

"In the fourth year of my residency at County Memorial, we ran into each other again. She came in pretty messed up, but I recognized her immediately. It appears some guy had drugged her and tried to take advantage of her, she escaped...thankfully, but he'd already done some mental damage," she paused again, staring at her hands, suddenly shy.

"Go on..." Sophie encouraged her, taking her hand in a soothing matter, "How did you end up together? Was it a bad relationship from the start?"

"No, it was great, we were great! We started dating shortly after reconnecting. Even during the year we were in school together, Tia had known what she wanted. She actually did try to get me to go out with her then, but...I started school late, so I was already 19 by the end of my senior year. Hanging out with a 12 year old was bad enough, but she was such a sweet kid. Anyway, at our age, when I was 25 and she was 19, the age difference didn't seem to matter any more."

Sophie nodded her head, tilting it to one side as she sipped her tea, not saying anything, but wanting Tasha to continue. Reading her, Sophie knew something wasn't quite right and the next bit of information was going to be hard for her to get out. She still hadn't moved her hand from Tasha's, and now, to give her a boost, she grasped the woman's hand with both of hers.

"It was during that time when Tia finally came out to her mom, and once her mom realized it was me...well, there was a big blow up. Her mom thought I'd pressured her into things because she was so inexperienced and all. A year into the relationship is when her mom had this place built. Tia was upset because she felt her mom was trying to control her," Tasha sighed. Draining the last of her tea she got up to get herself some more.

As she sat back down, she continued on, "Tia hated it, hated the fact that her mom was being so controlling. Personally, I loved her for it. When I came out to my parents, they disowned me. I haven't spoken to them for almost eleven years now. Anyway, we argued a lot about it. I knew her mom was just looking out for her, knew her mom had grown up hearing rumors of what lesbians do, thinking we were some kind of monsters, or perverts, or whatever, and I tried to explain it to Tia."

She paused to pour Sophie some more tea, "You look like you could use some more, too." Sophie nodded and extended her cup.

"Of course, Tia wouldn't hear of it. She just thought her mom was a control freak. She desperately wanted to move, but I...I liked it here, liked where we were at. Living in the Bible Belt can suck at times, but I had a good job, already had quite a few friends, it was...stable. All Tia could talk about was getting as far away from her mom as possible. She wanted to move up to Montana, get a ranch or something. She argued that any hospital would take me – doctors and nurses are always in need – but I didn't feel like moving then, so I finally had to end the relationship. When I moved back into the community two years ago with Angela, well...it wasn't pretty at first. She threatened me, sent me nasty letters, even got my phone records from her mom and started bugging me in voice mails and texts. It's only been about six months now that's she's been leaving me..._us_...alone. Ever since she started dating Asia."

Sophie stood up, "I'm really sorry, Tasha, but I've gotta go," she told her, giving her a small smile, "Thanks for all your help."

Tasha stood and hugged her, "No problem. If there's anything else you need, just let me know," she said, now looking even more sad at having to recount the memories.

Sophie hugged her back with an extra squeeze, "You should come over tomorrow night. We're having a little get together with Jack, Patrick, Jeff, Jake, Jessica, and Stacey. You and Angela are more than welcome," Sophie told her cheerfully.

*****

The following night, the semi-intimate party started. Nate sat everyone down and informed them of what was going on. This was the group who had been willing to talk, all had been helping gather information. Oddly, with the help of the rest, this particular case never would have been solved. There had been many comments from Tia that were odd, off and just plain weird. It had taken Nate only a few hours after Sophie's talk with Tasha to figure out what was going on and thankfully had figured it out in time.

They had given Tia and Asia an all-expense paid vacation to Los Angeles to keep Tia out of the way. Later on, they were going to raid Tia's house and collect all the stuff she'd recently purchased.

Nate concluded the meeting, "It wasn't Natalie after all, it was Tia all along. Thanks to all your help, we figured out her plan. Natalie is already making the arrangements for Tia's care," he turned to Tasha, "Will you be okay with her being there?"

"If what you've said is true, she needs help. County is the best place for her. Besides I'm not on the psych ward so I'll probably never see her anyway."

"Good, then it's settled...now, let's party!" Parker said.

Everyone turned to her, "What?"

"Well, this _was_ supposed to be a party. All our guests are here for a party. Now that we've got things figured out, a plan in motion to put a stop to things, and already have everyone's money back..." she looked around at the shocked expressions.

"What?"

"How do you know the money's already back?" Jessica asked.

Parker smiled at Hardison, "Because he's a computer geek!" she told them, like it should be obvious.

Hardison smiled at her with that classic cheesy grin he reserved only for Parker, "Age of the geek, baby!"

There was a slight pause in the festivities as many of them were now getting on their phones to check their accounts, then, smiling, tucked them away again.

"There's one thing I don't get," Tasha said as Parker was about to turn on some music. "What was she going to do with all that stuff she bought?"

"Revenge," Parker said simply.

"I don't get it," said Angela, "Revenge for what, why?"

Nate turned to Tasha, "You never told her..."

Tasha nodded, "Yeah, she knows."

Nate turned back to Angela, "In Tia's mind, Tasha dumped her for you." He then slowly looked at the rest of the crowd, "She was planning on torching the complex, saving only Tasha, not caring who she hurt or killed in the process. Then she was going to plead with Tasha...possibly even kidnap her, if necessary...to go to that ranch in Montana."

"We knew the money she'd been stealing was for them, so neither would have to work. If Tia was blamed for the fire, she'd have plenty to live on for years without having to come out of hiding. If she'd had to kidnap Tasha in the process...she'd still have more than enough for both of them to live comfortably on, without having Tasha go out in public," Sophie explained.

"She was going to....kill us all?" Stacey asked in horror.

"Yep," Parker said, "But we stopped her! There will be a police escort waiting for her when she gets off the plane upon her and Asia's arrival back in the city Sunday afternoon. It will take her directly to the hospital where she belongs. Now, Friday night is wasting away, can we party yet?" she asked, looking first at Nate, then to Sophie, begging them with her eyes.

"Parker," Nate warned, "I don't think they're going to be up for..."

"Let's rock!" Tasha said, reaching around Parker to turn on the stereo.

The plan was figured out, the community had their money back, and she didn't want to think of what was going to happen to Tia once she arrived home. For now, she just wanted to push Tia from her mind a bit before the real world invaded on Sunday.

*****

A few hours later, as another slow song started, Jake finally made his way over to Nate. The women had been dancing most of the time, Hardison and Eliot played it up rather well for a few songs, too. Hardison all but squealing "Oh, my god! I _love_ this song! Dance with me, please?" in classic Hardison fashion, during a few of the songs and Eliot really had no choice.

The team could tell Eliot wasn't happy when Hardison did that, but the look on Nate's face when Jake...the playboy...had gotten up the guts to ask him to dance was priceless. Later on, Hardison had actually screen capped it and made it into an 8 x10 for him. The whole team was cracking up, knowing what was probably going through Nate's mind.

Parker, however, seemed to be the one trying to hard, as usual. She was all over Sophie. Though the brunette tried pushing her away from time to time, Parker was pretty much locked onto her with a death grip Sophie couldn't get out of.

As they danced, Parker's hands slid all over her body. During the con, Sophie wasn't sure if Parker was getting that good at acting or if there was something more to it. As she felt Parker's hand roam down to grab her ass, she had no more questions about Parker's intent. "Parker! What are you doing?" she whispered in the blond's ear.

"Keeping up..." Parker started, but Sophie's mouth was too tempting, being so close to her ear, her resistance down, she only had to turn slightly and her mouth was on Sophie's. A short, quick kiss and she pulled back, looking into Sophie's eyes. Sophie stared back in surprise for a split second before she kissed Parker back. This time, allowing Parker a bit more access. As their mouth opened, Parker's tongue claimed hers in an erotic dance.

Sophie only prayed Nate was watching. She knew him, knew him a bit too well, and though he'd never show it openly, she knew this would turn him on and maybe even lead to a little more from him. She took the lead now, letting her hands wander over Parker. Slowly toying with the pale skin of Parker's exposed stomach, moving her hands around to grab Parker's ass and pull her in closer,finally reaching one hand up to give Parker's nipple a tweak.

*****

"Sophie!" Parker yelled before they went to bed, "What the hell was that all about?"

"What was what all about?" Sophie asked, trying to play it off.

"The kiss, the squeeze...the blatant groping!"

"Yeah, well, acting...had a part to play," Sophie told her.

"Sophie, I'm not good at reading people yet, but...that?That was _not_ just an act in another role you were chosen to play," Parker said knowingly.

Sophie looked at her, "You're right, Parker. I'm sorry. I was just kind of...in the mood. And with Nate there, and knowing Nate likes..." she stopped.

"So, let's give him a good show," Parker said, smiling, a split second before she threw Sophie onto the bed. Sophie didn't have time to register what Parker had said before she was getting into things more than she should have allowed herself to.

*****

The next day, they put their houses up for sale, and started packing things up, getting ready to move back home, their real home. Many neighbors stopped by with various gifts to say their goodbyes. They all tried to act happy, but they were sad about losing their new-found friends, even though the whole community knew they didn't belong there.

The team saying sorry more times than they could count about the act they'd put on, but the members didn't care, they were happy everything had worked out, they'd gotten their money back, and that it wasn't Natalie who'd been doing it. Though they were sad about it being Tia all along, they all vowed to check in on Natalie, make sure she was doing okay and help her whenever they could with whatever she needed.

Once everyone had finally left them alone for the day, they got all their boxes into one large truck and were just about to head out.

"Wait, Parker..." it finally clicked, "What did you mean by 'give him a good show'??" Sophie had pulled her aside.

Parker's eyes widened, "You mean, you didn't know?"

"What?" Sophie asked her, curiously.

"Sophie! We never turned off the cameras before we went to bed last night!"

**THE END**


End file.
